The present invention pertains to buoyant construction components which may be locked together in various configurations for transportation and/or to form structures such as bridges, platforms, barges and the like. Prior U.S. Pat. Nos. 2,876,726, 3,057,315, and 3,805,721 describe a series of successive developments in such construction components and special locks therefor. The present invention provides further improvements in such construction components.
In modern international commerce, there is widespread use of what are termed "standard freight containers." Such a container is generally in the form of a rectangular parallelepiped. It not only has standardized external dimensions, but in addition, usually includes a standard form of corner fitting which may be engaged by standardized tools and the like for both lifting and moving the container, for lashing it in place in various locations, for connecting it to other containers, etc. Freigt handling facilities, e.g. at seaports, throughout the world, have been equipped with such standardized lifting and moving equipment, whereas freight vehicles, such as ships, have been equipped with standard sized racks used in aligning and retaining such containers. Such standardization, on an international scale, has vastly facilitated the shipping and handling of many types of freight which can be packed in the containers.
Coinciding with the above developments in freight handling equipment and practices, is the need for transporting construction components of the type generally exemplified by the aforementioned prior U.S. patents to the locations at which they will be used. Such transport could be greatly facilitated and the cost thereof reduced if the construction components could be handled and shipped in the same manner as standard freight containers.
The generally rectangular parallelepiped configuration of such prior art components would readily lend itself to such handling, but problems were presented by the fact that the lock assemblies carried by the components included protruding pin members. This problem was solved by the retractable pin locks disclosed in prior U.S. Pat. No. 4,610,215 and application Ser. No. 757,631, which are hereby expressly incorporated herein by reference.
In a typical construction system of the type generally contemplated, a majority of the construction components would typically be of the type generally disclosed in the aforementioned prior U.S. patents, i.e. large "building blocks" of a relatively simple parallelepiped form. However, in most installations or constructions, there is also need for certain relatively specialized components, e.g. components adapted to take load bearing pilings or holding spuds, and/or components having raked or ramp-like tapers at one end. Such modifications to the basic construction components are often expensive, and in addition, may present additional problems in the context of transporting and handling the modified components. For example, the modifications of the components may cause them to include protrusions or deviations from rectangular parallelepiped gross profile, whereby they cannot be readily handled as standard freight containers.
As compared with the general construction components, the specialized construction components, especially the rake components, are preferably somewhat smaller than standard freight containers. Nevertheless, it is not practical to place these specialized components within standard freight containers for transportation. Our prior U.S. application Ser. No. 757,631 disclosed a system whereby two or more of these smaller components could be connected together, in some cases along with other auxiliary elements of the transportation system, to form an assembly which, in turn, could be handled and shipped as a standard freight container. Then, when the assembly reaches the construction site, the components can be disconnected from the transportation configuration and reconnected with one another and/or with additional components, of either the general or specialized type, in different configurations so as to form the structure being constructed.
Thus, each transport assembly of the overall system has gross dimensions generally corresponding to those of a standard freight container and includes at least two of the smaller specialized construction components. Each of these two specialized components has a first gross dimension with a maximum value generally equal to C.sub.1 /x, where C.sub.1 is the width of a standard freight container, and x is greater than or equal to 1. Preferably, x is an integer, and even more preferably, x is equal to 1. Thus, the first dimension of the component is preferably equal to the width of a standard freight container.
Each of the specialized components further has a second gross dimension, perpendicular to the first dimension, whose maximum value is generally equal to C.sub.2 /y, where C.sub.2 is the length of a standard freight container, and y is greater than 1. Thus, the second dimension is less than the length of a standard freight container. Preferably, y is greater than 2, whereby the second dimension of the component is less than or equal to half the length of a standard freight container.
Accordingly, several such components can be aligned lengthwise, with appropriate spacers therebetween if necessary, to form an assembly having the length of a standard freight container. As previously mentioned, the width of each such component is preferably equal to the width of a standard freight container. The components can be connected in such configuration, either directly, or via the aforementioned spacers, to form an assembly which can be handled and transported in the same manner as a standard freight container.
The third gross dimension, of the individual components as well as the overall assembly, can vary as desired, from one assembly to the next, and even within a given component, because the dimensions of freight containers which are standardized include only the length and width, but not the depth.
More specifically, as to the rake components, prior application Ser. No. 757,631 disclosed transport assemblies in which two rake components were connected in a "nose-to-nose" manner, i.e. with their shallow ends facing each other. It is possible, by connecting rake components in this manner, to form a transport assembly having gross dimensions generally corresponding to those of the standard freight container, and which can be shipped and handled as such. However, it has been found that, in doing so, excessive forces may be imposed on the connections between the shallow ends of the components, and this can result in damage to the connection means and/or the components themselves.
It would be possible to further brace the rake components with respect to each other, but any braces used for this purpose would then represent extraneous and otherwise useless, but relatively large, pieces which would have to be disposed of or otherwise dealt with at the construction site. The kinds of construction sites in which such components are used may be primitive and/or remote, having access problems, and otherwise susceptible to making the removal and disposal of such braces unusually problematic.